16 year old youths held in cells meant for terrorists

Thursday, February 28, 19:43 The remand of the three youths detained at Geulat Tzion in the Shilo bloc has been extended until next Tuesday (March 5). Honenu attorney Adi Kedar states: “The GSS is treating minors as if they were terrorists in order to scare them.”
In three separate deliberations which took place today (Thursday, February 28) at the Petah Tikva Magistrate Court Judge Amiram Kobo extended the remand of the three detainees, two of them minors, who were detained yesterday at Geulat Tzion, until next Tuesday (March 5). The three detainees were detained after several plastic bottles containing a substance suspected of being inflammable were found in the adult’s car which was found empty of passengers. The judge criticized the conditions of the remand and demanded that the police improve them to the standard required by law.
To reiterate, shortly before sunrise on the morning of Wednesday, February 27 four young men, including the three aforementioned detainees, were detained in a raid on Geulat Tzion. The raid included special police forces, masked policemen, personnel from the Jewish Department of the GSS, and a drone monitoring it all. During the raid the single residents sat handcuffed as the masked policemen aimed their weapons at them. The policemen and the GSS personnel combed the area and after approximately an hour and a half left with the detainees.
The aforementioned three detainees were taken to the GSS interrogation facility in the Kishon detention center in Acco and interrogated. During the course of the day the detainees were brought to the Natzeret Magistrate Court. Following the pleas by Adi Kedar, the Honenu attorney representing the detainees, that the conditions under which the minors were held constituted a violation of their rights and that the Natzeret Magistrate Court does not have the authority to rule on a misdemeanor which was not committed in its jurisdiction it was decided that the case would be transferred to the Petah Tikva Magistrate Court. For more information see here.
On Thursday, February 28 the detainees were brought to the Petah Tikva Magistrate Court where a separate deliberation took place for each detainee. In the deliberation on the adult the police stated that the three detainees were suspected of having been in the car in which supposedly inflammable liquids were found. The representative of the police did not know whether or not the three were suspected of planning a particular misdemeanor. The adult was also suspected of possessing an illegal knife.
Honenu attorney Adi Kedar strongly criticized the conduct of the GSS in the investigation. According to Kedar the three detainees have already spent two days in long interrogations without being interrogated on the actual matter at hand. The two days have been spent with GSS personnel in routine conversations designed to gain the cooperation of youth known as right-wing activists. Additionally Kedar claims that the detainees have been treated roughly. The young men aged 15-18 have been dressed in prisoners’ uniforms, in complete opposition to the law and also housed in cells without beds or toilets. Each cell is barely larger than the mattress in it and instead of a toilet there is a hole in the floor.
The judge ruled in his decision that even though there is an acceptable reason which necessitates the continuation of the investigation, five days of remand is sufficient, not ten as the police demanded. The judge also ruled that the detainees’ clothes would be returned to them and that they would be housed in suitable conditions as the law demands. The next deliberation is scheduled for Tuesday, March 5 at 12:00 noon.
Honenu attorney Adi Kedar, who represented the three detainees stated in response that, “To the best of our understanding most of the material in the case is based on information obtained by intelligence, not on evidence. The court partially acquiesced to the request for remand extension, I estimate because this is an important case which the GSS is handling. In our opinion this case will end as all of the other cases on the same issue have ended: without an indictment.”